


Don't Modulate the Key

by moonjockey



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Gen, high school band
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-02-12
Packaged: 2018-05-18 16:52:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5935831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonjockey/pseuds/moonjockey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alex Hamilton is first chair trumpet player at Yorktown High School. But he’s got a problem: Band director Mr. King is a terrible leader and he’s running the program into the ground. Luckily, he’s got a little help from his friends...and maybe even the new student teacher from Virginia.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Madness of Mr. King

“Awesome, wow,” Mr. King deadpanned to the band after they trudged their way through yet another boring slow song. Alex rolled his eyes and nudged Aaron, the 2nd chair trumpet player. Aaron ignored him as always, keeping his attention on their director.

“Well what do you expect when this song sucks!” Alex said loudly, enough to be heard clearly across the room. Alex was not the only one who felt this way; other students and parents had been complaining about Mr. King for the whole year, but he was just getting really sick of him. 

Mr. King had been the band director at Yorktown High School for years, and the community didn’t really care for him, but the school board loved him, so there was not much they could do. Alex’s freshman class was definitely the most vocal about their annoyance with him.

Alex looked around to find support with his fellow classmates. He caught the eyes of his friends: John Laurens in the French horn section, Mulligan who was the lone tuba player and Lafayette in the percussion section. His friends and a few other students yelled out as well. “Why don’t we ever play anything fun!” “Can’t you ever say anything nice to us?” The rest of the band then started joining in and talking amongst themselves. Mr. King stepped off the podium at that point, and headed to his office as the whole class erupted in complaint. Alex sat back with his arms crossed feeling satisfied.

That was until he heard Aaron muttering next to him. “What was that, Aaron?” 

“You really need to talk less, Hamilton.”

Alex sighed. He heard this on a daily basis from his fellow trumpet player. He was getting sick of it.

“Well BURR, how do you expect anything to change if we don’t fight Mr. King? I’m pretty sure you feel the same way, but how would I ever know?”

Aaron just shook his head and started heading to the locker room to pack up.

Alex stood up, gathering his music and his trumpet.

“I’m sure you feel so proud of yourself, huh Alexander?”

Alex looked up into the beautiful face of Angelica Schuyler, who was a sophomore saxophone player. He smiled. “Of course. How else are we going to ever get that asshole out of here?”

Angelica laughed. “True, but just yelling out in rehearsal is not going to accomplish anything. You need to talk with someone a little higher up.”

Alex’s smile widened and he leaned towards her. “You think I haven’t? Just you wait.”  
She laughed again and walked away. Alex sighed and stared after her.

“Dude, you can’t have them both, pick a Schuyler sister already.” Alex had been so lost in thought he didn’t notice that his friend Lafayette had appeared next to him.

“Hey, Eliza and I aren’t dating yet. We’re just talking. I’m just looking for now.”

“Oui of course.”

 

Alex ran up to his room when he got home from school and immediately went on his computer to check his email. Still no response from the school board. He had sent an email earlier that week complaining about Mr. King. He opened a new message and began to type.

“Alex! Time to come down for dinner!”

Alex heard his parents calling to him, but ignored them and kept typing furiously. He already had several paragraphs, but there was still so much he needed to say.

There was a knock on the door. “Yeah?”

The door opened, but Alex kept on typing. “Alexander. It’s time for dinner.” It was the voice of his mom.

“Okay, just a second, I need to finish this paragraph.”

He felt a hand on his shoulder. “What are you working on?”

Alex sighed and quickly minimized the message. He turned to look up at his mom, a face so different from his own. “Promise not to lecture me?”

His mom laughed and sat on his bed. “I promise.”

“I’m trying to get Mr. King fired.” Alex kept his eyes down, not wanting her to be disappointed in him, like all of his previous foster parents were.

“Mr. King? Your band director?”

Alex nodded and looked up. She was still smiling so that was a good sign. “He actually called me today to talk about your behavior in class today.”

Alex was confused. He didn’t know why she was smiling.  
“He’s a very strange man. He kept saying how you made him so mad. I told him I would take care of it.”

Her smile got even wider. “Don’t look so worried, sweetheart! You’re officially our child now. We’re not going to abandon you.”

Alex turned away, tears suddenly in his eyes. He had been adopted for a few years, but he still hadn’t been able to get used to being with a loving family.

He felt his mom squeeze him tight. “Now let’s work on getting this weirdo fired.”

 

True to her word, his mom helped over the next few weeks, to send out emails to many parents, administration, and community members.

Walking into band was more and more interesting. Mr. King didn’t seem to know what to do anymore. The classes were getting out of control, and there were only a few members of the band that were actually listening.

One boy, Sam, who was a bassoon player, had always admired Mr. King for some reason. And he wasn’t giving that up.

He actually stood up in rehearsal one day defending their director. “Guys, we need to listen to Mr. King and give him our respect. He is the director after all. Don’t we want to be ready for the concert?”

Alex snorted loudly from the back row. Sam turned towards him. “Kiss ass,” Alex fake coughed. HIs friends and a few others laughed. Sam turned bright red and sat down. Or course as Alex looked around, Aaron was scowling. “Leave him alone,” he whispered. 

Mr. King smiled for the first time in weeks. “Oh my loyal Sam. Are you just gonna take that from him?” 

Sam stuttered, he didn’t seem to know what to say. 

Alex jumped up. “Seriously, dude. How can you still defend him? He’s a joke.” 

“Rip him apart!” Hercules yelled out. 

Sam, still red in the face, stood up again to face Alex. “He’s a teacher, we have to give him our respect.” 

“Oh my god, dude. If you repeat yourself again, I might scream.” Sam looked embarrassed, but held his head up. 

“Well, I’m sorry I want our band to sound good. If band turns to chaos, what good will that do?” 

“So we let an idiot teacher just keep running our band? He doesn’t even know what he’s doing and the music we play is so boring. We’re not learning anything with him in charge.” 

Alex heard a few yells of support from the rest of the band. 

Sam sat down defeated. Mr. King lost the smile from his face. “Show’s over, kids.” He walked toward his office and slammed the door. 

Alex felt a few pats on his back as he packed everything up. He was about to leave to go to his next class with his friends when he saw Eliza waiting by the door for him. “Catch you later, guys.” They gave him knowing looks and winks as they walked ahead of him. 

“Hi, Alex,” Eliza said shyly. She was a clarinet player in band and they had been sort of dating for the last few months. But ever since he had been working on taking down Mr. King, he had been too busy. They had exchanged a few texts, but no real solid conversation. 

“Hey, Eliza. Sorry we haven’t been talking lately, I’ve been busy.” Alex pushed open the door for her as they started to head to their next class. 

She shrugged. “It’s okay, Mr. King really is the worst. I’ve been busy too. I’ve started volunteering for Big Brothers Big Sisters and it’s been really rewarding.” 

Alex smiled. “That’s great!” 

“I wanted to talk to you though, because I think we should just be friends. I sort of am seeing someone else now that I met through Big Brothers Big Sisters and wanted you to know.” 

Alex faltered momentarily. “Oh, good for you!” He gave her what he hoped was a decent smile. She stopped walking to look at him intensely. “I’m sorry, but I wasn’t going to just wait around for you. I hope you understand and we can still be friends.” She gave him a smile and walked away. 

Alex started after her. He hadn’t imagined that’s how their conversation was going to go. 

Alex tried not to be too upset about it, as he kept telling everyone before, they weren't really dating anyways. But he couldn’t help but sit quietly at lunch that day. Laurens bumped against his shoulder. “What’s up, bud?” Alex shrugged and kept poking at his stupid salad. Lafayette laughed. “The tomcat got dumped, that’s what’s up!” Alex poked his salad even more furiously. 

 

The next day in band, Mr. King approached the podium. “Well, it seems we have a new arrangement. Mr. Washington is going to be our student teacher till the end of the year.” He gestured towards the back where a bald, friendly-looking man was sitting. He waved and smiled. “Okay, Mr. Washington. Good luck.” With that Mr. King walked towards the back of the room and sat down with a huge smile on his face. 

“Hi, ladies and gentleman. I’m Mr. Washington. I grew up in Virginia. Happy to be here with you now. What’s your favorite piece that we can run through together?” 

There were a few murmurs across the band, but no one seemed to know how to answer. Alex decided he should speak for everyone and yelled out, “We hate everything.” 

Mr. Washington didn’t seem to know what to say. “Um, wow. Seriously? Okay, well... play and talk amongst yourselves for a moment. I’ll be right back.” Mr. Washington disappeared to the back of the band room; everyone turned to look at him to see what he was going to do. He went to the filing cabinets. 

Alex turned to look at Aaron. They weren't really friends, but he was always interesting to talk to. “Do you think there’s even any good music in there?” 

“Could be some left over from before Mr. King.” 

Mr. Washington ran up to the podium, a giant folder in his hand. He blew some dust off it. “Well, let’s give this a shot.” He starting walking around passing out music to each section. 

He made his way over to the trumpets and handed a few pieces of music to Alex. “Thank you, sir.” 

“No problem, kid,” Mr. Washington said with a smile. 

Alex looked at the song, it was _Stars and Stripes Forever_ by John Phillips Sousa. He had heard of the song, but had never had a chance to play it before. There were a lot more notes on the page than he was used to. 

“This should be fun,” Aaron said with a look. 

“Well, okay let’s give this a try!” Mr. Washington counted them off and start to conduct. It was a trainwreck, but Alex had more fun than he had ever had in band playing the song. 

The rest of the band class flew by and Alex was surprised when the bell rang. Mr. Washington had given them a lot of pointers and advice and not one person interrupted him the whole class. Alex smiled to himself while he packed up for the day. He had a plan now. 

 

Alex was standing by his locker at the of the day telling John about his plan, when he saw the Schuyler sisters walk by. Their sister Peggy was with them as well. She wasn’t in band but in choir, and always seemed to follow her older sisters around. 

“Afternoon ladies!” Alex said with a smile. He hadn’t seen Eliza since they had broken up and she wouldn’t meet his eyes. 

The girls stopped in front of his locker. “So what did you think of Mr. Washington? Pretty great huh?” Alex tried not to look to intensely at Angelica’s eyes as she turned to speak to him. 

Alex laughed. “That’s an understatement. Maybe I can get your help. We’re going to try to convince the school board that Mr. Washington should take over.” Alex looked towards John to help with his case. He seemed to be deliberately looking away. 

Alex turned back to Angelica as she shook her head. “Of course you already had a plan. I think…” Eliza gave Angelica a look, they seemed to be having a conversation without speaking. “Actually, we have to get going, but you know I’m on board.” She waved and walked away. Peggy gave him a wave too as she passed by. “And I’ll help too with the choir kids!”

Alex swung his locker closed and grabbed his backpack. John was still just standing there was his arms crossed. “What’s wrong with you now? I thought you were excited about this plan.” 

John seemed to be in a daze and finally shook his head and looked towards Alex. “Sorry, just a long day. Glad we have some more support. I’ll try to talk to my Dad and see if he can rally some more parents on our side.” John patted him on the back, “See you later, Alex.” 

 

At dinner that night Alex excitedly told his parents about his plan. 

“Mr. Washington is just so great and we already sounded better than we ever did with Mr. King. He just needs to take over!” 

“Alex, slow down, son. Why don’t you eat something?” 

Alex ignored his Dad and just kept talking. “We just gotta get Mr. Washington on our side. Maybe I’ll talk to him tomorrow.” 

His Dad put down his wine glass and put his hand on Alex’s arm. “Son, you just met the man today, take a break.” 

“But...” Alex couldn’t believe his Dad didn’t want him to try. They usually were so supportive.

“You’re doing all you can for now. You know I don’t even know if that’s something that’s possible for this year. You know Mr. Washington is still in college right? He wouldn’t even be able to take over until next year anyways, that’s even if he was hired for the job.” 

Alex looked towards his mom. She shrugged. 

“They can make an exception I bet, if they just see how much better we are with Mr. Washington!” 

His mom just shook her head. “Sorry, Alex. We’re just being realistic. We don’t want you to work so hard and then be disappointed.” 

Alex angrily grabbed his fork and started eating his pasta. 

“We’re not telling you to give up totally. Mr. King has to be fired first right? We’ll still help out on that front. But just leave Mr. Washington out of it for now, okay?” 

“Fine,” Alex said through a mouth full of food. 

Alex ran upstairs after dinner and found out that his parents were right. Mr. Washington wouldn’t be able to take over yet. So he at least gave that up. He drifted over to his email for the thousandth time. Still no response from the school board from any of his emails. 

He hadn’t had any luck from his parents or other students either. It seemed the school board would not drop their support of Mr. King. 

He opened a new tab and went to his blog that he had started, “The Blog Where it Happens.” 

He had been sharing his posts over Facebook and getting some good responses from fellow students. 

**“The Madness of Mr. King”**

Alex started typing his newest post denouncing Mr. King. He went on for many pages typing perilously. He ended up working for so long that his wrists started to hurt. While working out the pain in one of his wrists, he scrolled through the comments that already popped up. 

**Itsshowtime** 3/12/16 7:52  
Raise a glass, yo! Down with Mr. King. 

**Burrsir** 3/12/16 7:56  
You keep on complaining about Mr. King, but what real evidence do you have against him?

**LancelotLafayette** 3/12/16 7:59  
You are the worst, Burr. 

**zero2hero** 3/12/16 8:03  
Hey, I was just offered a position in the Fine Arts office. I’ll see if I can find anything out for you, Hammy.

Alex quickly made the final comment private and sent a message to his friend. 

**A. Ham:**  
yo do you really think you can find anything about king working in the office? 

**H. Mulligan:**  
ill see what I can find out, bro. there’s gotta be some dirt on him 

 

Alex continued to be impressed by Mr. Washington as the days went by. Mr. King mostly stayed in the back and let Mr. Washington run rehearsals, but he usually conducted one or two songs. His fellow classmates seemed to be on Alex’s side and all loved Mr. Washington. Though there were a few betrayers who were still sticking by Mr. King. Alex and his friends were getting into arguments frequently. 

A couple weeks after Alex had posted his blog post, he was talking with his friends in the band locker room. They were actually all taking their instruments home to practice, something they never even wanted to do with Mr. King.

“Don’t you just love that new song we played today with Mr. Washington? _Godzilla Eats Las Vegas_?!” John called out while pulling his french horn case out.

Alex nodded. “Oh man, that song is so crazy. I can’t believe Mr. King is even allowing that. I turned back to look at him in rehearsal today and he was just looking at his phone. He just doesn’t give a shit anymore.” 

Charlie Lee, an annoying clarinet player and band board president, poked his head into the doorway. 

“Are you talking about that piece of paper that Washington considers a song? It just has random sounds! At least with Mr. King we played real music. He needs to go back to college before he’s ready to be teaching.”

“You’re fucking kidding me right, Lee? God you’re such a fucking asshole. Just because..”

“What was that, Mr. Hamilton?” 

Alex heard a deep voice from outside the locker room and felt his face heat up. It was Mr. Washington. 

Alex saw Mr. Washington enter the room and he quickly put his head down in shame. “Mr. Hamilton, I know I’m just the student teacher, but I’m pretty sure that’s not language we should be using in school.” 

Without looking up Alex just muttered, “I’m sorry, sir.” 

Alex heard snickers from his friends and from Lee. He flushed an even deeper red. 

“Well, I’m sorry sir, but Alex was just defending you,” John said strongly. Alex looked up at his friend and smiled. 

Alex finally looked over towards Mr. Washington. One side of his mouth was curved up briefly before turning back into a frown. He looked over at Alex. “You don’t really need to defend me, and next time I hear language like that I’m talking to Mr. King about a detention.” 

Alex momentarily forgot his embarrassment and scowled. “What? But Lee was the one who was making fun of you and the music we played. I was just defending you!” He angrily gestured to Lee, who was leaning against the band lockers looking cocky. Alex wanted to punch him. 

His friends all joined in at once defending Alex. Mr. Washington still looked mad for a second before sighing. “Boys, boys. I’m not going to give him the detention, just don’t use that kind of language in school alright? See you later.” He walked away and once Alex was sure he was really gone he turned to Lee and flicked him off before storming out of the locker room.

 

Hercules had been working in the Fine Arts office for a month before he found anything valuable to the case against Mr. King. 

He came running up to Alex’s table at lunch, a few pieces of paper in his hand. 

“We got him guys! We got him!” Alex immediately shushed him and the group of friends all huddled together. 

“I’ve been looking at the secretary’s papers while she goes to the bathroom and today I came across this.” Hercules laid one piece of paper on the table. “It’s the band boosters fund.” 

Alex looked closely at the detailed list of what the money had been used for. 

“Something just didn’t seem right to me. If you look at the budget,” he pulled out another piece of paper, “The boosters budgeted lots of money for new music every year.” He gestured back to the first sheet. “But if you look at what the money is spent on every year, none of that is new music. But there’s all these columns just labeled miscellaneous each month.” Alex looked across the papers noticing that each month where he saw miscellaneous; it was a lot of money. 

Hercules shook his head. “I don’t know what Mr. King is spending this money on. But it’s sure not for new music.” 

Alex knew they were close to catching Mr. King. But they needed more information if they were going to get rid of him. 

 

Alex didn’t want his friend to get in trouble (and he also really wanted to be the one to finally put Mr. King in his place). So he volunteered to try to sneak into Mr. King’s office. 

The next day Alex skipped his lunch and headed towards the band room. He was going to try to get in while Mr. King was at lunch; hopefully it was the same time as his. 

He walked confidently to Mr. King’s door and knocked. There was no answer. 

Alex tried the handle. Unlocked. He couldn’t believe his luck. 

Pushing the door closed quietly, Alex went over to his desk and began looking through the drawers. He pulled on the bottom drawer that seemed like it would have files in it. It was locked. _Shit_ , Alex thought to himself. He opened the top drawer to see if there was a key. He was pushing aside pens and pencils when he suddenly heard the door open. 

“Mr. Hamilton what are you doing in here?” It was not Mr. King, but worse: Mr. Washington. 

_Fuckkkkkkkk_

Alex turned around in the desk chair, holding his head up this time. He hated the look of disappointment that he saw. 

“Well? What is the meaning of this?” Mr. Washington’s eyes were blazing. 

Alex looked away as he spoke. “I’m sorry, sir. But, I have to try to find dirt on Mr. King. I need to take him down. You know how bad he is. Can you blame me?” Alex chanced a look. 

Mr. Washington briefly did the same half smile Alex had seen before. It lasted only a few seconds. “That doesn’t mean that you can break into someone’s private office. Son, I don’t know what you were thinking!” 

Alex scowled and muttered, “Don’t call me son.” He had been called son by so many potential parents his whole life and it never failed to get him angry. The only person who could call him son is his adopted father. 

Mr. Washington didn’t seem to hear him and continued on, “This is definitely grounds for detentions. Possibly for a week or more. I will have to talk to Mr. King and the principals.” 

Alex scowled even deeper. He was going to be in such deep shit when he got home. 

“But you have to know that I’m doing this for you! I want you to take over for Mr. King. You’ve seen how bad he is, we play so much better with you around!” 

Mr. Washington just shook his head. “Alexander, that’s crazy. I’m just a student teacher. I can’t just take over. I don’t even have a teaching license yet.” 

Alex couldn’t help himself and he jumped out of the chair and yelled out, “But he’s crooked, Mr. Washington! We know it, we found he’s stealing money from the band!” 

Mr. Washington stared at him. “That’s a very serious allegation, Alexander.” He sighed and shook his head. “Leave, Alex. I need to talk to Mr. King and we’ll send for you later.” 


	2. Mr. King turns around runs a spendin' spree

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forever thankful to my my dawg, L. She's always encouraging me to write and making sure my lines weren't too over the line. But seriously how do you write a Hamilton fic and now want to put it all the lines???? 
> 
> Lots more Ham/Angelica in this chapter. How are there not more fics of them????? 
> 
> Also, Godzilla Eats Las Vegas is a real song and it's so great:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgQCq4yrSDg  
> One of my favorite songs from high school band.

“Fucking two weeks of detention. And I have to write a letter of apology to Mr. King. Fuck this. I really thought Washington was gonna be on my side.” Alex was walking home with Lafayette, who lived down the street. 

“Oui, that sucks, mon frere. What do you think your parents are going to say?” 

Alex groaned and pulled on his backpack straps. “They’re not going to be pleased. They know I talk too much and that gets me into trouble at school, but this is different.” 

Lafayette shrugged and laughed. “Well they knew what they were getting themselves into when they adopted you.” 

Alex flicked him off.

 

Alex got home before either of his parents that day. He sat in his room on the computer listening carefully for the front door to open. 

When it did he quickly put on his headphones and pretended to be absorbed with his work. 

“Alexander.” His mom was at the door. 

He pretended not to hear. 

“Alexander.” 

He moved his head back and forth listening to his silent music.

“Alexander Hamilton. Stop pretending to listen to music and look at me.” 

Alex slipped off his headphones and placed them on his desk. He turned around. His mom did not look happy. 

She gestured to him to sit on the bed. He slowly got up and joined her there. 

“Alex, why did I get a call today from your principal?”

Alex just stared at his hands. 

“Oh, for once you have nothing to say?”

Alex cleared his throat before answering quietly. “Mom, you have to know that I finally found something on Mr. King. I just needed to find one more piece of evidence and then we would have him.” He turned to look at her. She had a small smile on her face. Alex felt a brief sense of relief. 

“Oh, my Alex,” she said putting her arm around his shoulder, “always fighting for what you believe in. But this time you went a little too far.” 

Alex put his head down. He knew he wasn’t going to get off easy. 

She squeezed his shoulder once more. “Well, when I talked to the principal she said that you have two weeks of detention, which seems fair. But you’re also grounded. No friends after school and only one hour of computer every night for those 2 weeks as well.” 

Alex pushed away from her. “What? That’s not fair at all! I’m already in trouble at school!” He crossed his arms and pouted. 

“Sorry, Alex. But you broke into a teacher’s office and weirdo or not, it’s still wrong. I’m just trying to teach you that there are consequences.” 

He hung his head in defeat. “Okay, Mom but can I just tell you what I found?” 

His mom sighed and smiled once more. “Of course.” 

Alex told her all about the papers Hercules had found; she didn't seem to like that his friend had been going through people’s stuff as well. But she seemed convinced that Mr. King was up to something. 

“Oh, sweetheart. You should have just come to us for help! We always like to go to the band booster meetings, and I think there may be one coming up soon? Your father and I will discuss it. But I think we have copies of the budget anyways from the start of the year meeting.” 

Alex finally gave her a smile. “I didn’t want to wait. I just wanted to go as soon as possible.”

“Well, you’re still in deep trouble. But you have our help.” 

 

Alex trudged through the halls the next day, dreading to go to his first day of detention. But as he slowly walked he passed Angelica Schuyler. He stopped dead in his tracks and give her his best smile. “Hey there,” he said in what he hoped was a smooth voice. 

“Hey there yourself. On your way to detention?” She didn’t look impressed. 

Alex deflated a little. “Unfortunately, yes. You know why though, don’t you?” 

She laughed. “Alex, everyone in band knows the story by now!” 

“The whole true story though? Straight from the criminal’s mouth?” He raised his eyebrow. 

She rolled her eyes. “Well no, but I suspect it has to do with your plot to take down Mr. King.” 

He nodded and put his hand on her arm pulling her closer to him. 

Alex whispered what he had found out to her. 

“You should have talked to me or someone before you just ran into that office! That was so reckless and crazy!” 

“It’s what I do best though!” 

She laughed and gave him a look. “That’s true.” They stared into each other’s eyes for a second before she shook her head and stepped away. 

“Well, my Dad doesn’t usually go to the band booster meetings, but I’ll see if he’ll go to the next one. He’s pretty good with numbers and money. I’ll have him talk to your parents.” She gave him another intense look before waving and walking away. 

Alex stared after her for a few seconds, before running towards the detention classroom.

 

“Okay, ladies and gentlemen. We have our concert coming up next week and we need to make sure this song is ready. It’s a fun song, but it’s technically difficult to put together. You’ve done great work, just a few more finishing touches to work on today.” 

Mr. Washington was running band rehearsal again. Alex smiled. This song was his favorite that he had ever played. I mean they got to imagine Godzilla was invading Las Vegas and they got to scream and yell in the middle of the song. Who wouldn’t love that? Not everyone did, but more and more were finally realizing how much better things were with Mr. Washington. 

Alex was happy with how things stood. They were ready to take Mr. King down at the band booster meeting that was on Thursday, which was before the concert.

“Let’s start at the mambo section. Now trumpets at measure 45, you’re not quite hitting those notes. Let’s hear you by yourself.” 

Alex and his fellow trumpets got their instruments up and played the high screeching note. 

“Eh, still not quite there, let’s hear you one at a time.” 

Alex played his note perfectly, Aaron was next and wasn’t quite there. “Almost Mr. Burr, tighten your lips a little more.” It took a few more tries, but he finally got it. Everyone else got it right on. 

He picked on the trumpets a few more times today, and every time it revealed a mistake of Aaron’s. Aaron seemed to realize this as well, and wasn’t very happy at the end of rehearsal. 

“Okay, great rehearsal on that song today. I think Mr. King’s coming up now. Just in case you forgot, my time at Yorktown is quickly coming to an end! After your concert I’ll be here one more day and I’ll be off to graduate. You have been all wonderful to work with. Can’t wait for the concert!” 

Alex smiled even as Mr. King took the podium. If his plan worked out, Mr. Washington would not be leaving and would get hired here. 

 

Alex sat staring at the clock. He couldn’t believe how slow it was moving. It was his last day of detention, so of course it was going to feel the longest. He sighed loudly and stretched his legs so they were on the empty desk in front of him. 

“Mr. Hamilton, do we need to extend your detention by another day?” 

Alex sighed again and rolled his eyes. “No, Mr. Adams.” 

“Then put your feet down and be quiet.” 

_Shut up, John you motherfuckstick_

Alex laughed to himself as he looked at the detention teacher. 

Once it was 4:00 and his last detention was over, Alex ran from the room and straight home. 

 

Alex used his hour on the computer that night to type up another blog post with the final plans for the budget meeting on Thursday. His time was almost up, but he was quickly reading through the comments. 

**zero2hero** 5/6/16 6:52  
We got this, Hammy. 

**amindatwork** 5/6/16 6:54  
I’m in your corner, Alex! My Dad will be there to help! Good luck :) 

Alex smiled to himself at the last comment. He didn’t think Angelica read his blog. Lately he had been thinking about her quite often. 

He had been interested in her when they first met at band camp, but then he met Eliza. Alex had talked with Eliza all during band camp and then they made out under the bleachers, which had put Angelica straight out of his mind. 

He definitely felt a stronger connection with Angelica now though. He clicked over to Facebook and saw she was online. 

**A. Ham** : Hey thanks for the message. How’s it going?  
**A. Schuyler** : Good. You ready for the band booster meeting?  
**A. Ham** : I think so. My parents have been looking over the information on the band budget, and it seems very suspicious. I think we got him!  
**A. Schuyler** : That’s great! I hope it will work. 

Alex was starting to type a new message to Angelica when his Dad knocked on the door. 

“Alex, your time is up. Turn off the computer.” 

Alex continued to type. “Just give me one second.” 

His Dad put his hand on his shoulder. “Alex, you know the rules. It’s your last night at least.” 

Alex sent one last message. 

**A. Ham** : ughhh sorry got to go. still grounded.  
**A. Schuyler** : No worries. See you tomorrow! :) 

Alex turned off the monitor with a smile. 

“Who are you and what have you done with my son? Why are you so happy to be getting off the computer?” his dad asked. 

Alex just shook his head. “Oh, it’s nothing. Just excited about taking down Mr. King, I guess.” 

HIs Dad gave him a knowing look and winked. “Okay, sure whatever you say.” 

 

It finally came to the day of the Band Booster meeting. His fellow band students were giving him encouragement all day long. A lot of the parents and kids were going to the meeting. Many more than usual. 

Alex sat in the back of his parents car for the quick drive over to the school for the meeting. Alex stared out the window, both excited and nervous. 

“Alex,” his mom turned to look at him once they had pulled into the parking lot. “Now remember what we talked about.” 

Alex rolled his eyes. “I know. I know. Let the adults do all the talking.” 

 

Alex had a very hard time keeping up that bargain though once Mr. Jefferson started speaking. Alex had never hated someone so quickly before. 

Mr. Jefferson was on the Band Boosters, but Alex didn’t think he had children in the band. 

He basically was running the whole meeting along with Mr. Madison, who did actually have a child in band--his son John was a trombone player and was also adopted. John was kind of a troubled kid. He and Alex had talked from time to time. 

They spent the first part of the meeting going over the proposed changes to the handbook for the next year. “You know, I actually helped write the original draft of the handbook.” Mr. Jefferson must have said that at least 10 times in the first half hour of the meeting. Alex couldn’t roll his eyes enough. 

“We’ll now move on to,” Jefferson consulted a list, “Accusations brought forward by Alexander Hamilton and his parents regarding the budget from this school year.” 

Alex’s mom stood up and he started to stand to go with her. His mother shook his head and whispered, “No, Alex. Remember what I said?” 

Alex crossed his arms and scowled. His Dad sat with him and patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, son.” 

As he watched his mom move to the front, he looked towards Mr. King. He still looked as pompous and cheerful as ever. He did not seem worried at all. 

“Hi, my name is Amanda Stevens and my son Alex is a freshman in band. We were looking over the budget from the beginning of the year and some things didn’t seem to quite add up.” Alex’s mom held up a sheet of paper. 

“Here I have the budget that I received at the meeting at the beginning of the year. It says that we budgeted over $1,000 for new music, but my son has told me that before Mr. Washington took over as student teacher, there was never any new music given to the band.” 

“I did spend some of that money on new music that Mr. Washington wanted.” Alex looked over to Mr. King. He was still smiling, but it looked like he was starting to sweat. Alex felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out. 

Message from Angelica:  
He’s looking nervous. 

Alex smirked and quickly replied back: I know!!!!! 

He put his phone away and looked around for Angelica. She was sitting a little closer to the back. He quickly found her and winked. 

“Okay, but why budget that much if you weren't planning on spending it? You didn’t know you would have a student teacher when we made this budget.” 

Everyone in the room was looking at Mr. King. He didn’t seem to know what to say. 

Mr. Jefferson of course had to chime in. “Well sometimes budget money doesn’t get spent, Mrs. Stevens.” He sounded so condescending. 

Alex’s mom continued to smile as she looked towards him. “I understand that, Mr. Jefferson. That’s why I also looked at the expense reports. There are always items that are marked as miscellaneous. Mr. King can you tell us what you have been spending that money on?” 

“Well, there are always miscellaneous things that one needs to run a band. I can’t remember every little thing for every month.” 

His mom looked baffled as she glanced at her papers in her hand. “You can’t remember what you spent $600 on in December?” 

Mr. King wiped his forehead. “No, I’m sorry. I would have to look at the receipts.” 

There were whispers amongst the whole group. Mr. Jefferson spoke up. “Mr. King, we need to see those receipts.” 

“We’ll wait,” Alex’s mom stood with her arms crossed. 

Mr. King laughed and started walking towards the door to go to his office. 

The whole room started buzzing. Alex walked up to his parents. He gave his mom a hug. “Thanks, mom. That was perfect!” She smiled and kissed him on the top of his head. 

He went off looking for his friends, when he felt a tug on his ponytail. He turned around and saw Angelica. 

She was standing very close to him. “You satisfied yet?” 

“I won’t be until that asshole is gone. Did you see how much he was sweating? I think we got him for sure.” 

Mr. Jefferson burst back into the room. “He’s gone!” 

Everyone in the room turned towards the door. “I went to Mr. King’s office and he took off! Lots of things missing too!” 

Alex saw his parents go over and talk to Mr. Jefferson along with a lot of other parents. 

“You were right, Alex!” Angelica said.

He shrugged. “I really wanted to catch him and see the look on his face when he lost. That coward just ran away.” 

She rubbed his arm. “Well, you’ll get what you want at least. He’ll be gone now.” 

Alex shrugged again. “That’s true. I wonder what’s going to happen now though?” 

Angelica was standing very close to him again. He was about to reach out for her hand, when he felt a pat on his back. “Yo, Hammy. You got him!” 

Alex groaned and stepped away from Angelica. He turned and saw his friends. He honestly had forgotten that they were even going to come tonight. 

He tried to give them a smile. “Hey guys...yeah, looks that way! What a coward though, right?” 

He felt a squeeze on his hand. He turned back to see Angelica give him a wave and walk away. Again, trying not to feel too disappointed by her absence, he turned to his friends to celebrate their victory. 

The parents had talked for a long time after Mr. King’s departure. They had to call up the School Board and at one point to discuss what had happened. Alex didn’t get a definitive answer, but it seemed like Mr. King was definitely gone for good. 

 

Alex didn’t know what to expect when he stepped into the band room the next day. Mr. Washington was standing up on the podium, and for the first time since Alex met him, he looked nervous. There was another teacher in the back of the room that Alex didn’t recognize. 

Alex went to the locker room and grabbed his instrument and music before sitting down in his seat next to Aaron. 

“Well Mr. Burr, sir, what’s the scoop?” Alex said, opening up his music folder. 

“Got me, Hamilton. I don’t think I know any more than you. I just found out this morning what went down last night. It seems like Mr. Washington is taking over, but someone said he can’t lead us without a licensed teacher. I think that’s why that guy,” Aaron pointed to the strange teacher in the back, “is here with us today.” 

Alex nodded and started to warm up. After everyone had got to their seats and had their instruments out, Mr. Washington raised his hand to quiet the group. 

 

“Well folks, it seems like I will be leading you for the concert. I’ll do the best I can. I’m not a licensed teacher though, so Mr. Jay is here, just so everything is legal.” 

The teacher in the back waved and smiled. 

“I can’t discuss everything that happened at the meeting last night, but I’m sure most of you know anyways. The gist of it is that Mr. King will no longer be employed at Yorktown High. Since we have our concert next Tuesday, the School Board would like me to step up and lead.” 

Alex raised his hand. “Yes, Alex?” 

“Are you going to be taking over for Mr. King next year then?” 

Mr. Washington shook his head. “At this point, no options for the next school year have been discussed. However, I’m sure that they will post the position and find the best candidate.” 

“But we don’t want anyone else but you to be our director!” Alex said. The rest of the band yelled out their agreement. 

Mr. Washington smiled. “Thank you for the support, Mr. Hamilton, but it’s not up to me. The school administrator and principal have to hold interviews; I can’t just say I want to take over. Anyway, I’m at least your director for this whole concert. So let’s get to work.” 

They worked hard for the last remaining rehearsals and Alex felt like they were never more ready for a concert. 

 

The day of the concert finally arrived, and Alex and his friends were excited the whole day. He couldn’t believe that he had set out to get rid of Mr. King and it actually had worked. He still wanted Mr. Washington to take over the position, and had said as much in yet another email to the School Board. But he was glad for the first victory. 

Alex was getting ready in his room putting on his concert attire when he heard his phone vibrate. He walked over his bed to pick it up. 

It was a Snapchat notification. He opened it up so see it was a picture of Angelica in her concert black. She had written across the picture: Totally working this look! 

Once the picture had disappeared, Alex replied: You totally are! See you soon :) 

He finished buttoning up his shirt and threw on his jacket. He did a silly pose in his concert attire and sent her a picture back with the text: Just you wait ;) 

He put his hair up into its standard neat pony tail before walking downstairs. 

His parents already started taking pictures as he was still walking down the stairs. 

“Oh, Alex. Don’t you look handsome!” 

“Okay, mom. No more pictures! You’ll have enough at the concert.” 

She held her phone up and took a few more while Alex groaned. 

 

Once he arrived at school for the concert he walked up to his friends who were gathered in the back of the band room. “Yo, it’s the man of the hour!” Hercules yelled out as he approached the group. 

“Hey can’t take all of the credit. Most of it was my mom. She totally rocked it. Especially when that jackass Jefferson tried to put her in her place.” 

“Yeah, what a tool,” Laurens said, shaking his head. “Did you know his kids are all a lot older, and he just fought to stay on Band Boosters? Probably just to be an ass to everyone else.” 

Alex laughed. “I hope I never have to deal with that guy again. Don’t know if I’m going to be able to keep quiet.” 

Alex saw Eliza and Angelica walk into the band room. He was going to wave, but didn’t want his friends to see. 

They did anyways. “OH, Ham, look! It’s your girlfriends!” Lafayette said, nudging Alex with his elbow. 

Alex pushed him playfully. “Shut up, asshole.”

Lafayette just laughed. “Seriously, mon frere, you are too lucky. Two Schuyler sisters in one year.” 

“Maybe he can hook us up with Peggy?” Hercules said seriously. 

They all laughed and continued to goof around as the room started to slowly empty out. 

A few minutes later, the two girls walked over towards them, their instruments in their hands. “You boys better get your instruments ready. We have to be on the stage ready to go in 2 minutes,” Eliza said, pointing to their cases on the floor. 

Alex looked over towards Angelica, who was adjusting the neck strap of her saxophone. She gave him a wink before turning to walk out of the band room. 

The boys quickly put their instruments together and sprinted towards the stage. 

The all got to their places right as Mr. Washington was walking up to the podium. He lead them through a warm-up and run through of a couple of sections. 

“Thank you all for your patience these last few days. You’ve all worked so hard to get ready for this concert today. Just do your best and make sure you focus and listen all around you. Good luck!” 

The whole band broke into applause and cheers. Alex really thought he saw Mr. Washington’s eyes get suspiciously shiny. 

The concert was far from perfect, but as the band got ready to play their last song, Alex felt it was the best concert they had ever had. 

Mr Washington stepped up to the microphone. “Thank you all for coming today and supporting music education. I know I was not who you expected to see leading the concert, but I hope you enjoyed it despite the circumstances. Let’s give another round of applause to these wonderful student musicians.” Mr. Washington turned around, applauding, and proudly looked around at all the students. 

A few students stood up--Charlie Lee and a few other members of the student band board. They walked up to the front and presented Mr. Washington with a few gifts. Alex wished he was up there with him, but during elections Alex hadn’t gotten enough votes to be a part of the group. Alex still smiled and stood up with the rest of the band to give Mr. Washington a standing ovation. 

Mr. Washington took to the podium for their last song, _Stars and Stripes Forever_.

He gave the downbeat, and they were off. 

It was the best they had ever sounded. The band had come a long way from the first time Mr. Washington had stepped onto the podium. 

Once the song was over, Mr. Washington of course got a standing ovation from the audience and the band. He walked off stage, and Alex grabbed his music and instrument and ran off to try to catch up. 

“Mr. Washington, sir.” 

He turned and looked down at Alex with a smile. 

“I made you this card. Thanks for everything that you did for the band. Even though you say that you won’t be here next year, I believe in you.” Alex handed him the card. 

“Thank you Alex. Sorry I didn’t believe you when you tried to tell me how crooked Mr. King was. But I’m glad it all worked out in the end.” Mr. Washington held out his hand for Alex to shake. Alex reached around and hugged him instead. Mr. Washington laughed and patted him on his head. 

Alex walked away, hoping that was not his last concert with Mr. Washington. 

 

He walked out in the lobby looking for his parents. After a few minutes he found them and waved. They gave him hugs and took a few more pictures. 

“Okay, Alex, grab your stuff. We’re gonna get going,” his Dad said as his zipped up his coat. 

“Is it okay if I walk home? I’m going to stay and hang out with my friends.” 

“Of course, text us when you’re on your way. Don’t be too late.” Both his parents gave him a hug again and walked away. 

Alex wandered around the lobby looking for his friends, and if he was completely honest with himself, also Angelica. 

He found John first, who was standing next to the snacks table talking with his parents. 

He stood next to him and bumped his shoulder. 

“Hey.” 

“Hey, Alex. Great job!” John turned to him and gave him a high five. 

“Thanks, you too!” 

“Alex, that was so great! Nice job on that solo in that Godzilla piece!” John’s mom said with a smile.

Alex nodded. “Thanks, Mrs. Laurens.” 

“Sorry, John can’t stay and chat, but we have to get home.” 

“Johnny, go grab your stuff from the band room. We’ll be waiting outside in the car.” John blushed. 

As soon as they were out of sight, Alex turned to his friend and giggled. “Okay, _Johnny_ , I’ll go with you to the band room if you want.” 

John blushed even more. “Oh my God, Alex please don’t. I can’t believe they still call me that. I told them like a million times not to.” 

“Oh, it’s okay, Johnny,” Alex said, putting his arm around his shoulder and leading him towards the band room. 

 

The band room was noisy with students packing up instruments and talking about the concert. Alex and John put their instruments away in the locker room. Alex said goodbye to John and looked around the room for Angelica. She was in the front of the room with her sister, cleaning out their instruments. 

“Hey, Alex.” Eliza said quietly as he approached them. 

“Hey, Liza! Nice job! That solo was amazing!” Alex sat down next to their cases. 

“Thanks!” She said with a smile. 

“Hey, how’s Big Brothers Big Sisters going?” 

She closed her case and gave him an even bigger smile. “It’s been wonderful. I have a little sister I meet up with every week now and we have so much fun together.” 

“Good to hear!” Alex returned her smile and then turned to Angelica, who was putting her saxophone back into the case. 

“Well,” Eliza said suddenly, “I have to get going. Angelica, I’ll get a ride home with Dad. I’ll let him know you’ll be home later.” 

“How will you get home then?” Alex asked.

Angelica smiled. “I drove myself! This was the first time Daddy let me take his car since getting my license!” 

Alex had forgotten that Angelica was a year older and could already drive. “That’s awesome!” 

Angelica stood up, holding her case. “Be a gentlemen and walk me to the band locker room?” 

Alex linked his arm with hers. “By all means, lead the way.”

She laughed as they walked arm and arm to the band locker room. 

She dropped his arm when they got to her locker and she pushed in her saxophone. She locked it up and took a step towards him. She had been standing so close to him lately. He definitely liked her, but did that mean she liked him too? He looked into her eyes. She was looking back and forth down the room. Alex did the same and noticed it was empty except for them. He took another step closer to her, and pushed her hair behind her ear. Angelica looked down at his lips, and continued to get closer and closer until she lightly kissed him. 

Alex deepened the kiss and pushed her against the lockers. Alex brought his arms tightly around her body. The two continued to kiss for a few more seconds when they heard, “YEAH, ALEX.” “WAY TO GO, HAMMY!” 

The two broke apart, looking towards the sound. Lafayette and Hercules. He had hoped the two of them had left already. Alex looked towards them with a sheepish smile before flicking them off and turning to Angelica. 

“Let’s ditch these losers,” he said. 

They joked around, a little awkwardly but affectionately, as Alex put his trumpet away and returned the music for the semester. 

Alex couldn’t believe how everything just seemed to fall into place today. Mr. King was gone, Mr. Washington had conducted the band concert, and now he was here with Angelica. 

They were the last ones in the band room, so Angelica reached out and flicked off the lights as they went out. 

With her other hand, she took his, and together they walked out of the school.


End file.
